| Notes |
Known for an easy charm, a broad smile and impeccable attire (an immaculately pressed suit with matching silk tie and handkerchief were trademarks), Dr. Spillane — Bud to friend and foe alike — became something of a celebrity in public education systems commonly viewed as run by faceless bureaucrats.
As a reformer he displayed a brash zeal that energized supporters and alienated critics, and he earned nicknames like “the Velvet Hammer” and “Six-Gun Spillane” for his willingness to take on entrenched interests.
“In order to get their attention, you often have to do something outrageous,” he once said. Another time, at odds with school board members, he declared, “They want a water boy and I want to be the quarterback.” Facing budget cuts, he said, “I’ve got to go to war over that.”
When he took over the Boston school district in 1981, it was dysfunctional and worn out after years of fighting over a court-ordered desegregation busing plan. He replaced principals, fired teachers, closed schools and set the district on a path free of court supervision.
“He took over one of the worst school systems in the United States, one that was totally demoralized, badly directed, with confused lines of authority, no budgetary systems, no payroll systems, and he turned it around,” John Silber, then the president of Boston University, said after Dr. Spillane left four years later. |